Cigarette Litter Prevention Program

Asheville spends thousands of tax dollars every month picking up cigarette butts alone. Cigarette litter is ButtUgly™ and way out of hand! Look around at any public walkway, any curb at any intersection, just about any public area, playground or body of water and you’ll see cigarette butts. Listed as the most littered item in the world, the cigarette butt is by far the most over-looked form of pollution known. As ‘over-looked’ as the problem is, cigarette litter is in our face. Cigarette butts are everywhere!

Cigarette Butts aren’t just Ugly, they are toxic too!

Tons of toxins from trillions of littered cigarette butts add up year after year. With each rain, the paper wrap around the filters disintegrates and the non-biodegradable toxin laden fibers are then released onto the ground and into our water sources. Basic life forms in our food chain are then killed by the carcinogenic chemicals the filters were designed to capture. Ultimately, every littered butt has a negative impact on our environment. Cigarette litter costs municipalities millions of dollars each year. There’s an obvious need for an aggressive approach to curb the problem of cigarette litter.

Terracycle - Cigarette Waste Brigade

Every year, cigarette butts end up in dumpsters and landfills, or get tossed as litter on shorelines, parks, and sidewalks across the US.

With the help of Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, a major tobacco manufacturer in the US, the waste collected through the Cigarette Waste Brigade will be recycled into a variety of industrial products, such as plastic pallets, and any remaining tobacco will be re-worked into tobacco composting.

Swat-A-Litterbug

Enforcement is one approach. States are now effectively stepping up their anti-litter efforts and slapping casual cigarette litterers with heavy fines. The Swat-A-Litterbug Program is an educational effort administered by the North Carolina Department of Transportation Office of Beautification Programs.Littering North Carolina roadways is not an acceptable behavior – never has been! Some people simply need to be informed and reminded that their littering, whether deliberate or unintentional, can end with their personal commitment to stop.

In order to communicate to motorists who litter (litterbugs), we are asking every citizen to assist us in our educational effort to ensure a cleaner and safer North Carolina roadway system.Let us know when a person is littering by contacting our Office of Beautification Programs through the Swat-A-Litterbug process:

• Go on-line to report a litterbug (click here)• Mail in the Swat-A-Litterbug card*• Call Customer Service Office at 1-877-368-4968

Upon receipt of the litterbug information, NCDOT will:

• Notify the vehicle owner of the littering offense• Inform the vehicle owner of the penalties for littering• Urge the litterbug to stop littering

A formal notification is signed by the Colonel of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol (click here). This letter helps educate and remind citizens of their civic responsibility to protect the environment.The Swat-A-Litterbug Program provides every citizen an opportunity to be an active participant in ensuring the roadways of North Carolina are kept clean, beautiful, and safe.

* To obtain Swat-A-Litterbug cards, call 1-800-331-5864.

Education is most important. Teaching young people at an early age is essential. Providing an informative, fun and humorous way for students to carry an anti-litter message home to family and friends is a grand step toward litter prevention and promoting responsible behaviors.

The message is: Cigarette Litter is not acceptable!

ButtUgly

ButtUgly.org is a anti-litter concept domain. It is not an 'organization' at this time. We are currently seeking sponsors to help bring light to the issue of toxic cigarette litter though ButtUgly.org's humorous approach to changing perceptions and behaviors relating to cigarette butt litter. This website is a collection of early ButtUgly™ documents, images and information promoting facts and resources to help educate the public. We are seeking to make the concept real...can you help?

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